TRIO Day 2012
On Thursday, February 23, 2012, 446 TRiO students and 73 staff members convened at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell, CT to participate in our two-day annual TRiO Day Celebration. The TRiO Day Committee, under the leadership of Nella Signorello, planned an event, focusing on the theme: “Minute to Win It … Are You Up for the Challenge?”, that brought together students and staff from all six New England states and New York. The first day began with welcome addresses by Ms. Signorello; Evette Layne, President of NEOA and Director of the MIT/Wellesley Upward Bound Program; and Kwasi Gyambibi, President of the Connecticut State Association. The remainder of the day included: college tours to 19 institutions; an evening session that featured: a presentation from the UConn All-Stars Step Team and a motivational keynote presentation that simply captivated the audience by Kevin Booker, Jr., Retention Specialist at Three Rivers Community College, and his colleagues, Sammy Colon, Juvenile Detention Officer at Community Partners in Action, and Chinue V. Govan, performer and Dance Director at Backbeat City in Glastonbury, CT; and evening activities such as the Scholars Bowl. Day two included: an address by Congressman Christopher Murphy, (Fifth District, CT); a college fair with 60 colleges & universities represented; and workshops on topics such as money management, academic success, college admissions, financial aid and athletic recruiting. This years service project was the collection and donation of nutritional food items for the Hands on Hartford’s Backpack Nutrition Program, a program designed to help alleviate the hunger of children in Hartford, CT by providing them with easy to prepare, child-friendly foods to bring home on Friday afternoons.
Submitted by Evette Layne
